"Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case has been converted to 3 years and 6 months behind bars, TASS reports from the courtroom.
"Despite the preventive measures taken with him, Navalny repeatedly violated his deadlines for reporting to the inspection. The court considers the motion of the [Russian] Federal Penitentiary Service to be satisfied," judge Natalya Repnikova announced the decision."
Yes, as usual RNZ and western media in general display their utter and almost total inability to contextualise important international news…and they wonder why so many people don't trust the news they feed them.
The Manufacturing Consent model has become almost total in MSM.
That would no doubt have much to do with the high proportion of Russian military that have been deployed to the area – as they were prior to the seizure. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-crimea/29790037.html These at least are no Crimean citizens.
It remains to be seen how far the US will go to prevent a full scale Russian invasion of the Ukraine – but at least Putin's bootlicker Trump is out of the picture for a bit, and can't roll over in response to Russian aggression as he no doubt would have done.
It must be tempting to US interests to interdict Russian expansionism at the Crimean chokepoint rather than let its corrosive influence permeate through Syria and the like.
The Ardern Labour governments superb response has limited deaths from covid to 25, Boris Fucking Johnsons inept, arrogant, public school ingrained stupidity has killed off 107,000, the UK toll under the NZ response would have been about 350.
I thought Captain Tom was in hospital with Covid. The pneumonia surely a result of that.
I hold the govt responsible that we have only had 25 deaths. They responded swiftly and superbly to a novel virus. We are extremely fortunately it has only been 25.
My absolute sympathy to those people who lost their love ones. We can thank our Govt that the country is experiencing mass grief at the moment.
If it turns out that COVID-19 had a hand in causing Moore's death, then shouldn't Johnson share at least some of the blame? After all, Johnson's already apologised, and well he should.
Sadly RNZ and most other NZ news outlets make this their lead story, but of course never do a serious story or even a small story on this…time to just admit RNZ has become nothing more than a news/entertainment outlet for teenagers and adults who can't be bothered thinking for themselves…..
The Tories' new trade bill means the NHS is now unquestionably up for sale
By rejecting Labour’s proposed amendments, the government has left our health service at the mercy of hungry US corporations
Nah, we have to wait till National and ACT lead Government and bring back Steven Joyce and Rodney Hide to merge MBIE and MoH into one giant Super-Ministry called Big Bertha.
Nobody in power likes to share data, information, or knowledge in fear of giving up power & control. Transparency and accountability are PR speak for giving the great unwashed their daily amnesia pill and the bread and circuses provided by MSM and SM do the rest. Have we won the AC yet?
We’ve heard about this issue on an off for decades, but the big factor that's different this time is the ageing workforce. Across so many technical and professional specialisations we're losing people to retirement that are simply not being replaced in sufficient numbers.
At present you can roughly divide adults into three almost equal cohorts, a 20-40 group who're relatively unskilled but energetic and growing their lives, 40-60 who've now become more skilled and productive and are investing heavily for their old age – and then over 60 who now find themselves actively shunted into retirement and become consumers of their capital. (If they have any that is.)
There are two paths we can consider. One is to address more forcefully the absurd ageism that's rife in the employment market. Everyone knows and everyone does it, yet we pretend it's somehow ok and 'what are you whinging about now boomer'? That would expand the availability of already skilled and capable people later into their lives.
The second more approach we need to be thinking about is how to get younger workers up to speed and more productive earlier in their careers. Get people up into that 'skilled high value bracket' by their early 30's instead of their 40's. More employer investment into automation and in career training are the obvious plays here.
The point is our demographics are changing in ways our societies have never experienced before – and we'll need to start considering doing things in response we're not accustomed to.
Lets assume the premise is correct….I shake my head every time I hear some office wallah extolling the virtues of working past retirement age…in many occupations it is quite simply typically impossible if not downright dangerous.
There actually needs to be a stock assessment of all the workforces as to their age cohorts. This isn't occurring just in Health – building, engineering, farming, carpet laying …. there is a long list.
Should be easy to be done centrally by industry first using IRD wage and salary data as a starting point – I think only IRD would have where you work and what industry it is in.
That would allow some focus after that on occupations. All the info should be made public and accessible and updated monthly if possible so industries can examine where they are at and plan accordingly. This is where government should be able to shine – the provision of timely, quality bulk data.
Agree it is a reported issue in many workforces and in the near term it is only going to get worse. I would have thought it will have been an issue widely canvassed in Labour's Future of Work study…..then again perhaps not.
Yes it's true that as we age the nature of what we can do well also changes – but the idea that somehow we become suddenly useless at 65 is just nuts. Adaptation is always possible.
who said useless?….I think I said "in many occupations it is typically impossible if not downright dangerous'.
I have witnessed countless guys struggling through the final years of their working life trying to hide the fact the job is too much for them (physically) any longer and the impact it has on their health…many of them decided it wasnt possible any longer and didnt make retirement age in the industry.
Not so sure about that….with increasing workloads on the existing cohort 'burn out' and mental health appear to be an issue…certainly in the primary health field.
And the world dosnt run solely on skilled technical and professional groups….such as it runs.
One good friend here put it to me like this – employers know you can still do the job, but they also intuitively sense that as you got older not only did the tide of bullshit keep rising, but your tolerance for it diminished.
And the two trends crossed over for you about two years ago
… employers know you can still do the job, but they also intuitively sense that as you got older not only did the tide of bullshit keep rising, but your tolerance for it diminished.
To a land in which economists are useless and confounded.
No one, not even the most optimistic, thought headline unemployment would fall to 4.9%, the underutilisation rate (even seasonally adjusted) falls to 11.9%, and now the fifth highest employment rate for those 15-64 in the OECD.
Clearly – they were holding the chicken entrails upside down at the time of their predictions. Hence the gobsmackery they have just experienced. No worries, normal transmission will soon be resumed, and along with it, their accustomed air of authority.
I would be very cautiously about the desirable level of economic forecasting certainty.
In no time at all following 2008-2010 the Key government had control of the narrative, unemployment in NZ was relatively low and spending was being slowed towards surplus regardless whos pocket book that cut into.
Clearly from events we now know the country could have afforded to be much more supportive, and that also applies to Jacindas first term. But it still took 2020 to shake the sureity with which the country carried on at the time.
Last time we had anything like an economic narrative was 2002. An attempt at least.
Since then it's been simply crisis response. 2020 is no exception.
Grand narratives are grand, I recall Paul Ricoeur saying, because what they narrate is the work of the social imaginary itself. No one is proposing a New Zealand state with that scale of agency.
From the ones I've know professionally and personally, doctors don't retire due to age.
They seem to retire either so they can ignore the daily bs and do their own research or healthcare-related thing, or so they can live in Otago or Nelson (sometimes with grapes involved).
It is why quality jobs are important that pay well. If GDP rises on the basis of added value/high profit then anything is affordable – if GDP rises on the basis of low paid jobs like tourism then it is much more of a struggle.
The problem is we've chased low paying work.
I think what companies like Tait could have done with good investment in those early days of cell-phones, etc. We potentially could have been leading the world in cell-phone technology.
On the other hand we are starting to see us leading in things like agricultural robotics.
It's more that the wretchedly worthless clowns in Treasury and Immigration and Education have chased low-paying work on our behalf. We ought to have a professionalised society along Scandinavian lines, and would but for the larding of our civil services with Brash-selected failures addicted to Chicago School nonsense instead of the pragmatism that used to make our country effective.
Had a long yarn with a semi-retired former DSIR bloke the other day. The civil service has gone from bad to worse, with gyres of managers producing nothing but friction stymying the work that needs to be done at every turn. And for Callahan Innovation, his scorn was withering. The cheese has been pared a little too often, so development has stalled – except in the safest of all sectors, property speculation.
But hey – 900 Kiribatians the other day – undercutting wages and setting worker exploitation in concrete until the present generation of corrupt MPs retire. Our economy will follow that of the American south – hollowed out by slave-depressed wages and the worthless spawn of entitlement non-working rentiers breed.
We are in no hurry to get our hands on the vaccine…
That's not the impression I have. Hipkins has exhibited frustration about the current situation and has been in daily contact with the providers. They are very concerned.
Now that it's finally gone through phase 3 trials, it's probably as copacetic as the others.
It was, shall we say, a 'bold move' cut cut corners as significantly as they did, though. A bit like lauching a moon mission without thoroughly testing the engines that would get you off the rock and back home.
"cut corners as significantly as they did" They did? Care to elucidate?
Anyway
"In the first week of February, vaccination with Sputnik V will start in the following 12 countries: Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Palestine, UAE, Paraguay, Hungary, Armenia, Algeria, Bosnian Serb Republic, Venezuela and Iran."
"
Efficacy of Sputnik V against COVID-19 was reported at 91.6%.
Analysis included data on 19,866 volunteers, who received both the first and second doses of the Sputnik V vaccine or placebo at the final control point of 78 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Efficacy in the elderly group of 2,144 volunteers over 60 years old was 91.8% and did not differ statistically from the 18-60 group.
Russia started dispensing it on 5 December. That's only ten days after they recruited their cohort for the first half of their phase 3 trials. Given that the trials looked at recipients for 21 days after their shot, let me be clear on this: they started distributing the vaccine before even the interim phase 3 trial results had been produced.
As opposed to Oxford–AstraZeneca, for which the interim phase 3 results were announced on 23 November and the first non-trials distribution was on 4 Jan 2021.
Whether that was a calculated risk by the Russians when faced with a pandemic and an extremely promising (if untested) vaccine, or simply a prestige-based move based on a fair bet nothing will go massively wrong with it, that's up in the air.
Thanks for the new word copacetic to add to my vocab. library. 😉
Maybe they did cut a few corners but they would have been informed enough to know the risk was worth taking. Whatever… it provides those countries who would not be able to afford the more expensive vaccines a chance to vaccinate their citizens. That is is a damned good thing for everyone.
I mean, I'm not saying they were distributing something they thought was likely to go wrong, quite the reverse.
But phase three trials exist for a reason, even though they're expensive. Something gets to phase three if folks are pretty darn sure it will work and be safe, but not every drug or device passes them.
In the midst of news unemployment figures dropping and average wages increasing Federated Farmers say 'finding and retaining staff is a headache for its members'.
Perhaps if farmers and the rest of the agriculture and horticulture industries stopped relying on paying the minimum wage or less they wouldn't find getting workers so difficult.
It's a near-perfect storm for leveraging wage prices up, with few students, few temporary seasonal workers, very few tourist visas and wine and apple harvest coming around the corner.
That Living Wage target sure appears achievable with this amount of market pressure.
Holyoake didn't can free education, kill the DSIR or let the DFC go off the reservation – that happened under a less scrupulous generation. And that's saying something.
Agree every government has contributed to where we are. Holyoake didn't set up an equivalent to Temasek, didn't tax water use, didn't try to keep Glaxo here, didn't support the development of a local stock exchange, didn't do anything useful from the wool collapse, didn't prepare use for CER, didn't build on Sutch's work, didn't support union shopfloor productivity, didn't do much at all.
Doesn't let Treasury off the hook though – they are useless. All this stuff about an aging society – what do they suppose insecure low-wage employment and a housing bubble created by capital inflows does for working folk meaning to raise a family? Too stupid to live – and these are the folk who, for some reason, pull in big bucks. A bit of competence in economics wouldn't go amiss.
Finally someone's come up with the answer. If only everybody did what Anja Meredith's done…everyone would own their own home. About time people began taking responsibility!
You could do it too if you wanted. Borrowing money has never been cheaper. I say good on her, but there is a risk involved and a lot of people (probably like yourself) are not willing to take that risk.
Meredith says all her disciplines create "self confidence & happiness" – good on her for chasing her dreams. Not for everyone though, and not for me – sounds exhausting.
These kinds of stories have attached the subtext "everybody can do it if the really want to so if you don't want to you don't really want it so everything's your own fault". The irony is that if everyone had that dream house prices would shoot through to the next galaxy, even less people would own their own home, homelessness increases and so on. These one percenter stories that are dressed up to tell us things aren't that bad are like a pyramid scheme – the more people believe them the worse things get. The flipside is that perpetuating these stories is in the interests of one group, and to the detriment of another.
Does the Real Estate industry sponsor this crap one might wonder?
Every few weeks a story pops up about say, a 17 year old with two flyer rounds, and a strong work ethic, who has bought a block of flats or something–“anyone prepared to work hard and give away the coffee can do it” the little weasel says …until the reader discovers a loan or assistance from family etc. actually kickstarted the process.
Many middle class families know with certainty that their kids will never raise a deposit in the current environment, unless their parents are in a position to cough up.
That is why Labour has got it so wrong imo–the switch voters, and “doing oks” they are pandering to, along with their slavish defence of neoliberal hegemony, would actually like to see their own kids in houses!
"The government's latest argument is that other countries need the vaccine more than we do. Taken to its logical conclusion, that would mean no vaccines for New Zealanders for many years to come, which even the government isn't proposing."
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
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Very good interview regarding Navalny, probably worth watching if this story has any interest to you…
Putin and Navalny Both Represent Big Russian Capital – Alexander Buzgalin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnmcdqF1BxI
I have seen it time and time again leaders who are addicted to power and they will cross the line to keep it.
"Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher embezzlement case has been converted to 3 years and 6 months behind bars, TASS reports from the courtroom.
"Despite the preventive measures taken with him, Navalny repeatedly violated his deadlines for reporting to the inspection. The court considers the motion of the [Russian] Federal Penitentiary Service to be satisfied," judge Natalya Repnikova announced the decision."
https://tass.com/society/1251939
Yes, as usual RNZ and western media in general display their utter and almost total inability to contextualise important international news…and they wonder why so many people don't trust the news they feed them.
The Manufacturing Consent model has become almost total in MSM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suFzznCHjko
A possible flash point for international conflict – the Crimea is running out of water.
Interesting that now the Ukrainians see Crimean citizens as their enemy .Why block water to people they see as being occupied by Russia?
And of course, rivers that flow through Ukraine, like the Dnieper, have their headwaters in Russia.
Tit for tat could see Ukraine without water for their hydro and much of their water needs
Still, why is Kiev punishing the very people it believes to be its own citizens!
That would no doubt have much to do with the high proportion of Russian military that have been deployed to the area – as they were prior to the seizure. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-crimea/29790037.html These at least are no Crimean citizens.
It remains to be seen how far the US will go to prevent a full scale Russian invasion of the Ukraine – but at least Putin's bootlicker Trump is out of the picture for a bit, and can't roll over in response to Russian aggression as he no doubt would have done.
It must be tempting to US interests to interdict Russian expansionism at the Crimean chokepoint rather than let its corrosive influence permeate through Syria and the like.
Wake me up when they get to Kiev
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300220309/covid19-captain-tom-moore-uk-veteran-who-raised-money-for-healthcare-workers-dies-at-100
Very sad, but he will certainly be remembered for all the good he did. 100 is a great innings.
Its a telling indictment of British governance now that Hitler and his cohort couldn't kill Sir Tom Moore but Boris Fucking Johnson could.
It highlights the laissez-faire attitude the British have toward Covid-19.
Your (of course) holding our PM responsible for the 25 deaths in NZ?
The Ardern Labour governments superb response has limited deaths from covid to 25, Boris Fucking Johnsons inept, arrogant, public school ingrained stupidity has killed off 107,000, the UK toll under the NZ response would have been about 350.
The guy was 100 years old and had pneumonia but you're blaming Boris for his death?
I thought Captain Tom was in hospital with Covid. The pneumonia surely a result of that.
I hold the govt responsible that we have only had 25 deaths. They responded swiftly and superbly to a novel virus. We are extremely fortunately it has only been 25.
My absolute sympathy to those people who lost their love ones. We can thank our Govt that the country is experiencing mass grief at the moment.
I think you will find he has been fighting pneumonia for some time as the article states.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/captain-sir-tom-moore-joined-by-family-in-hospital-after-covid-diagnosis
If it turns out that COVID-19 had a hand in causing Moore's death, then shouldn't Johnson share at least some of the blame? After all, Johnson's already apologised, and well he should.
The main difference between the UK and NZ is clearly geographic isolation and global connected ness of the populations.
The claims being made here are pure partisan hyperbole. They are also unappealing claims.
I figured the main difference was having either a fool or a psycho in charge. Explains the US and Brazil, too.
Sadly RNZ and most other NZ news outlets make this their lead story, but of course never do a serious story or even a small story on this…time to just admit RNZ has become nothing more than a news/entertainment outlet for teenagers and adults who can't be bothered thinking for themselves…..
The Tories' new trade bill means the NHS is now unquestionably up for sale
By rejecting Labour’s proposed amendments, the government has left our health service at the mercy of hungry US corporations
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/22/the-tories-new-trade-bill-means-the-nhs-is-now-unquestionably-up-for-sale
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/staring-down-the-barrel-of-nzs-doctor-crisis
The problem: a plethora of fiefdoms run and ruled by managers.
The solution: a bigger, more powerful centralised fiefdom to rule them all.
Simplistic?
One would have expected that to be a basic function of the MoH
Nah, we have to wait till National and ACT lead Government and bring back Steven Joyce and Rodney Hide to merge MBIE and MoH into one giant Super-Ministry called Big Bertha.
Nobody in power likes to share data, information, or knowledge in fear of giving up power & control. Transparency and accountability are PR speak for giving the great unwashed their daily amnesia pill and the bread and circuses provided by MSM and SM do the rest. Have we won the AC yet?
We’ve heard about this issue on an off for decades, but the big factor that's different this time is the ageing workforce. Across so many technical and professional specialisations we're losing people to retirement that are simply not being replaced in sufficient numbers.
At present you can roughly divide adults into three almost equal cohorts, a 20-40 group who're relatively unskilled but energetic and growing their lives, 40-60 who've now become more skilled and productive and are investing heavily for their old age – and then over 60 who now find themselves actively shunted into retirement and become consumers of their capital. (If they have any that is.)
There are two paths we can consider. One is to address more forcefully the absurd ageism that's rife in the employment market. Everyone knows and everyone does it, yet we pretend it's somehow ok and 'what are you whinging about now boomer'? That would expand the availability of already skilled and capable people later into their lives.
The second more approach we need to be thinking about is how to get younger workers up to speed and more productive earlier in their careers. Get people up into that 'skilled high value bracket' by their early 30's instead of their 40's. More employer investment into automation and in career training are the obvious plays here.
The point is our demographics are changing in ways our societies have never experienced before – and we'll need to start considering doing things in response we're not accustomed to.
Lets assume the premise is correct….I shake my head every time I hear some office wallah extolling the virtues of working past retirement age…in many occupations it is quite simply typically impossible if not downright dangerous.
There actually needs to be a stock assessment of all the workforces as to their age cohorts. This isn't occurring just in Health – building, engineering, farming, carpet laying …. there is a long list.
Should be easy to be done centrally by industry first using IRD wage and salary data as a starting point – I think only IRD would have where you work and what industry it is in.
That would allow some focus after that on occupations. All the info should be made public and accessible and updated monthly if possible so industries can examine where they are at and plan accordingly. This is where government should be able to shine – the provision of timely, quality bulk data.
Agree it is a reported issue in many workforces and in the near term it is only going to get worse. I would have thought it will have been an issue widely canvassed in Labour's Future of Work study…..then again perhaps not.
Yes it's true that as we age the nature of what we can do well also changes – but the idea that somehow we become suddenly useless at 65 is just nuts. Adaptation is always possible.
who said useless?….I think I said "in many occupations it is typically impossible if not downright dangerous'.
I have witnessed countless guys struggling through the final years of their working life trying to hide the fact the job is too much for them (physically) any longer and the impact it has on their health…many of them decided it wasnt possible any longer and didnt make retirement age in the industry.
All true but not obviously relevant to the 'skilled technical and professional' groups we're talking about here.
Not so sure about that….with increasing workloads on the existing cohort 'burn out' and mental health appear to be an issue…certainly in the primary health field.
And the world dosnt run solely on skilled technical and professional groups….such as it runs.
We are just going to have to consult back to the major firms for 2 days a week.
Agree both New Zealand and Australia are fast-ageing societies, and the skills planning largely consists of propping up polytechs.
One good friend here put it to me like this – employers know you can still do the job, but they also intuitively sense that as you got older not only did the tide of bullshit keep rising, but your tolerance for it diminished.
And the two trends crossed over for you about two years ago
🙂
"Agree both New Zealand and Australia are fast-ageing"
To which galaxy are we going?
To a land in which economists are useless and confounded.
No one, not even the most optimistic, thought headline unemployment would fall to 4.9%, the underutilisation rate (even seasonally adjusted) falls to 11.9%, and now the fifth highest employment rate for those 15-64 in the OECD.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124119700/shock-fall-in-unemployment-to-49
Clearly – they were holding the chicken entrails upside down at the time of their predictions. Hence the gobsmackery they have just experienced. No worries, normal transmission will soon be resumed, and along with it, their accustomed air of authority.
Falling unemployment, growing economy, rising wages. Labour's best in the world covid response continues.
Makes you wonder if we ever really needed all those annoying tourists messing the place up.
I would be very cautiously about the desirable level of economic forecasting certainty.
In no time at all following 2008-2010 the Key government had control of the narrative, unemployment in NZ was relatively low and spending was being slowed towards surplus regardless whos pocket book that cut into.
Clearly from events we now know the country could have afforded to be much more supportive, and that also applies to Jacindas first term. But it still took 2020 to shake the sureity with which the country carried on at the time.
Last time we had anything like an economic narrative was 2002. An attempt at least.
Since then it's been simply crisis response. 2020 is no exception.
Grand narratives are grand, I recall Paul Ricoeur saying, because what they narrate is the work of the social imaginary itself. No one is proposing a New Zealand state with that scale of agency.
From the ones I've know professionally and personally, doctors don't retire due to age.
They seem to retire either so they can ignore the daily bs and do their own research or healthcare-related thing, or so they can live in Otago or Nelson (sometimes with grapes involved).
Technology will make up the labour skills short fall weather there is enough of a tax base to fund retirees is another matter.
It is why quality jobs are important that pay well. If GDP rises on the basis of added value/high profit then anything is affordable – if GDP rises on the basis of low paid jobs like tourism then it is much more of a struggle.
The problem is we've chased low paying work.
I think what companies like Tait could have done with good investment in those early days of cell-phones, etc. We potentially could have been leading the world in cell-phone technology.
On the other hand we are starting to see us leading in things like agricultural robotics.
The problem is we've chased low paying work.
It's more that the wretchedly worthless clowns in Treasury and Immigration and Education have chased low-paying work on our behalf. We ought to have a professionalised society along Scandinavian lines, and would but for the larding of our civil services with Brash-selected failures addicted to Chicago School nonsense instead of the pragmatism that used to make our country effective.
Had a long yarn with a semi-retired former DSIR bloke the other day. The civil service has gone from bad to worse, with gyres of managers producing nothing but friction stymying the work that needs to be done at every turn. And for Callahan Innovation, his scorn was withering. The cheese has been pared a little too often, so development has stalled – except in the safest of all sectors, property speculation.
But hey – 900 Kiribatians the other day – undercutting wages and setting worker exploitation in concrete until the present generation of corrupt MPs retire. Our economy will follow that of the American south – hollowed out by slave-depressed wages and the worthless spawn of entitlement non-working rentiers breed.
A new Russian Covid vaccine is showing signs of being very effective and they expect to have 1.4 billion doses available this year.
Another possible source of vaccine for NZ to consider in the near future? Or will it be turned down cos, you know… Russia.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/02/sputnik-v-vaccine-has-916-efficacy-against-symptomatic-covid-russian-trial-suggests
We are in no hurry to get our hands on the vaccine so I don't expect the government will be talking to Russia about it.
That's not the impression I have. Hipkins has exhibited frustration about the current situation and has been in daily contact with the providers. They are very concerned.
Now that it's finally gone through phase 3 trials, it's probably as copacetic as the others.
It was, shall we say, a 'bold move' cut cut corners as significantly as they did, though. A bit like lauching a moon mission without thoroughly testing the engines that would get you off the rock and back home.
"cut corners as significantly as they did" They did? Care to elucidate?
Anyway
"In the first week of February, vaccination with Sputnik V will start in the following 12 countries: Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Palestine, UAE, Paraguay, Hungary, Armenia, Algeria, Bosnian Serb Republic, Venezuela and Iran."
"
"
https://sputnikvaccine.com/about-vaccine/
Lancet analysis and report:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00234-8/fulltext
Well, yes they did cut corners.
Russia started dispensing it on 5 December. That's only ten days after they recruited their cohort for the first half of their phase 3 trials. Given that the trials looked at recipients for 21 days after their shot, let me be clear on this: they started distributing the vaccine before even the interim phase 3 trial results had been produced.
As opposed to Oxford–AstraZeneca, for which the interim phase 3 results were announced on 23 November and the first non-trials distribution was on 4 Jan 2021.
Whether that was a calculated risk by the Russians when faced with a pandemic and an extremely promising (if untested) vaccine, or simply a prestige-based move based on a fair bet nothing will go massively wrong with it, that's up in the air.
That's some knot you've tied yourself in there McFlock
Starting general distribution before large scale results are in isn't cutting corners?
What were they going to do if the trial had some adverse events – unvaccinate everyone?
Thanks for the new word copacetic to add to my vocab. library. 😉
Maybe they did cut a few corners but they would have been informed enough to know the risk was worth taking. Whatever… it provides those countries who would not be able to afford the more expensive vaccines a chance to vaccinate their citizens. That is is a damned good thing for everyone.
I mean, I'm not saying they were distributing something they thought was likely to go wrong, quite the reverse.
But phase three trials exist for a reason, even though they're expensive. Something gets to phase three if folks are pretty darn sure it will work and be safe, but not every drug or device passes them.
This one seems to be coming out ok.
Astra Zeneca has teamed up with Sputnik to improve its efficacy
https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/136683/astrazeneca-to-test-combination-of-azd1222-and-sputnik-v-vaccines/
We're signed up with Astra Zeneca so will likely get Sputnik embedded
Both are much cheaper than the vaccines invented by mega pharmaceutical companies
UK report shouts LOUD!
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/2/2/nature-is-our-home-new-uk-report-urges-big-economic-rethink
In the midst of news unemployment figures dropping and average wages increasing Federated Farmers say 'finding and retaining staff is a headache for its members'.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124119700/shock-fall-in-unemployment-to-49-per-cent
Perhaps if farmers and the rest of the agriculture and horticulture industries stopped relying on paying the minimum wage or less they wouldn't find getting workers so difficult.
It's a near-perfect storm for leveraging wage prices up, with few students, few temporary seasonal workers, very few tourist visas and wine and apple harvest coming around the corner.
That Living Wage target sure appears achievable with this amount of market pressure.
Just a shame the living wage isn't much more than the minimum wage.
We are a low-wage, low investment, low productivity economy.
So you take the leverage when you find it.
For workers, this is the most Goldilocks moment we've had in a decade.
We are a low-wage, low investment, low productivity economy.
For which we can thank the unevolved economists of Treasury.
Successive governments chose this state for us for us since at least Holyoake.
Holyoake didn't can free education, kill the DSIR or let the DFC go off the reservation – that happened under a less scrupulous generation. And that's saying something.
Agree every government has contributed to where we are. Holyoake didn't set up an equivalent to Temasek, didn't tax water use, didn't try to keep Glaxo here, didn't support the development of a local stock exchange, didn't do anything useful from the wool collapse, didn't prepare use for CER, didn't build on Sutch's work, didn't support union shopfloor productivity, didn't do much at all.
Doesn't let Treasury off the hook though – they are useless. All this stuff about an aging society – what do they suppose insecure low-wage employment and a housing bubble created by capital inflows does for working folk meaning to raise a family? Too stupid to live – and these are the folk who, for some reason, pull in big bucks. A bit of competence in economics wouldn't go amiss.
New Zealand Labour/Greens support up to 58.5% – highest since the election
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8629-nz-national-voting-intention-january-2021-202102010459
Finally someone's come up with the answer. If only everybody did what Anja Meredith's done…everyone would own their own home. About time people began taking responsibility!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/buying/124035697/property-investor-who-bought-five-houses-during-lockdown-plans-to-own-25-by-2025
Wow that makes me sick. How on earth is this even remotely 'productive'?
You could do it too if you wanted. Borrowing money has never been cheaper. I say good on her, but there is a risk involved and a lot of people (probably like yourself) are not willing to take that risk.
Meredith says all her disciplines create "self confidence & happiness" – good on her for chasing her dreams. Not for everyone though, and not for me – sounds exhausting.
These kinds of stories have attached the subtext "everybody can do it if the really want to so if you don't want to you don't really want it so everything's your own fault". The irony is that if everyone had that dream house prices would shoot through to the next galaxy, even less people would own their own home, homelessness increases and so on. These one percenter stories that are dressed up to tell us things aren't that bad are like a pyramid scheme – the more people believe them the worse things get. The flipside is that perpetuating these stories is in the interests of one group, and to the detriment of another.
The sinister side of the "good news story".
pretty much
Obscene.
move out of the way "avacado smash", the reason for low home ownership is evening TV and not getting up early enough.
Does the Real Estate industry sponsor this crap one might wonder?
Every few weeks a story pops up about say, a 17 year old with two flyer rounds, and a strong work ethic, who has bought a block of flats or something–“anyone prepared to work hard and give away the coffee can do it” the little weasel says …until the reader discovers a loan or assistance from family etc. actually kickstarted the process.
Many middle class families know with certainty that their kids will never raise a deposit in the current environment, unless their parents are in a position to cough up.
That is why Labour has got it so wrong imo–the switch voters, and “doing oks” they are pandering to, along with their slavish defence of neoliberal hegemony, would actually like to see their own kids in houses!
"Does the Real Estate industry sponsor this crap one might wonder?"
'Sponsor' may be a little too explicit…..encourage shall we say (along with the other vested interests)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/300220714/bnz-cracks-down-on-property-investors-due-to-unprecedented-demand
About time.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/435748/covid-19-vaccine-government-s-contracts-with-suppliers-questioned
As Mr Spock would say: “Mr Bishop, you are a moron”.
If Bishop is a moron, what do you call David Seymour. 😮
you may choose
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Levine-and-Marks-1928-IQ-classification_tbl1_343813113
Seymour is from a different TV-series, which was much funnier because it was British.
That said, he’s by far the most effective Opposition MP although the bar is low.